Health chief: US aid freeze has ‘minimal’ effect on PH
Metro Manila, Philippines - US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze may have “minimal” effects on the country’s fight against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said Thursday, Jan. 30.
Herbosa explained that the Philippines is no longer dependent on America given the former's middle-income country status, while the most affected would be African countries and other low-income nations.
“So papalitan ko lang ng funds from the local budget and I’ll ask from the President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) and our legislature. Saka may iba pang bansa, marami pang iba, hindi lang sila ang bansa sa mundo,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 2025 National Immunization Summit.
[Translation: I will source it instead from the local budget and I'll ask from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and our legislature. Also, there are many other donor-countries, not only the US.]
Herbosa said among the “friends” from whom the Philippines can seek financing are Australia, South Korea, and Japan.
In a statement, the DOH also said Herbosa “has been facilitating multilateral arrangements with various countries to support health systems strengthening activities towards universal health care (UHC) for many conditions of all Filipinos.”
“The delivery of health services by DOH and the expansion of PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) benefit packages continue unimpeded,” the agency added.
The United Nations (UN) said the US is the largest single donor of global assistance.
The US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), allotted around $190.6 million to the Philippines in 2023, data from the US government showed. Health projects amounted to some $48.55 million.
A partial report also showed the USAID released at least $144.4 million to the Philippines.
LoveYourself Inc., a non-profit and LGBTQ+ advocacy group, recently announced that while its services for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEp), which is a medication that reduces the risk of getting HIV, and self-test kits remain free, the delivery would incur a fee as paid staff supported by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) were affected by the stop-work order.
LoveYourself has UNAIDS, the UN agency leading the fight against HIV, as one of its partners.
It ensured that all of its essential services, including HIV testing, treatment, PrEP, and self-test kits “continue to operate as usual” amid the US freeze on global aid.
“We are actively working to support our affected staff during this period and are exploring alternative solutions to resume free delivery services as soon as possible,” the group said.
Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance to review efficiencies and consistency with his “America First” foreign policy after his inauguration on Jan. 20. He also withdrew again the US from the World Health Organization.
Four days later, the US State Department issued a “stop work” order for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver on Jan. 28 for life-saving humanitarian assistance, according to a US State Department memo seen by Reuters.
In a statement on Jan. 29, UNAIDS said the waiver included HIV treatment. It also said it would push to ensure other PEPFAR efforts, including service delivery and services for HIV prevention, are continued.
The USAID on Jan. 29 officially gave aid groups a blanket order to “take immediate action to pause implementation of USAID program-funded activities and otherwise refrain from further commitments or expenditures of USAID funding, until further notice,” according to a memo seen by Reuters. — With reports from Reuters
